Aransas County

My father’s uncle Sam, being Sam Byrant, died on July 1, 1951 in Rockport, Texas. He was buried at Prairie View Cemetery on July 5, 1951. Sam Bryant was the son of Guy Bryant (1861-1918) and Maria Martin (1864-1931). He was one of eight children they had together. Maria had been married once before at age 15, and had an …Continue reading →

A few nights ago, I was having difficulty falling asleep. Rather than fight the feeling, I thought I’d just get up and cruise the Internet for a little while. I went first to footnote.com and noticed that their Texas death certificate collection is now about 50% complete. So I just typed in the name Manson to see what would come …Continue reading →

I started this with a note on Facebook and it was suggested that it would make a good meme for bloggers. The idea is to publicize your surnames and locales to see if anyone elseknows something about them. For me on Facebook, I got several research-helpful replies. So how much better to take it to a wider audience. List the …Continue reading →

JESSIE BEATRICE BOWIE 1909-1973 Jessie Beatrice Bowie was my paternal grandmother. She was born in San Antonio, Texas, on January 11, 1909. She was the daughter of Elias Bowie, Sr.(1874-1970) and Hattie Bryant (1888-1944). Hattie had been born on the Texas Gulf Coast. After a brief marriage at age 15 and another relationship, she headed for San Antonio with her …Continue reading →

I have been enamored of FamilySearch Labs’ Record Search since it first came online. I like the interface and the presentation of information. I just wish there were more records available. To help toward that goal, I’ve spent a fair amount of time on transcribing records on FamilySearch Indexing. Recently, I was running names through the Texas Death Certificate database. …Continue reading →

Right: Craig and The World’s Smartest Sister at the beach in Rockport, Texas, August 1962. As far as I recall, my first time at a beach was in the summer of 1962. Later that year, at age 8, I did my first major writing project. It’s presented here just as it was written 46 years ago, including photographs (the notes …Continue reading →

I have obliquely alluded, in this space, to the fact that I am of the Roman Catholic faith. This may come as a surprise to a lot of folks, some of whom believe a black Catholic is rarer than a campfire at the North Pole. Frequently, when people learn that I’m a Catholic, they say, “When did you convert?” Well, …Continue reading →

This comes from the GeneaBlogie archives. It’s an edited version of three posts that ran over the Fourth of July Weekend, 2005. It’s a bit lengthy, but I’ve put it on the Carousel because I wanted to share one of my favorite stories. [My parents are recovering from jet lag on their Independence Weekend trip to visit me in Tysons …Continue reading →